There has been significant controversy in Winnebago County over the past three years about county government. A little over two years ago, I tried to create better boundaries and tighter definitions for the County Board to fulfill its state mandates the administration of and legislation for Winnebago County in Chapter 2 Article II of the Winnebago County Code. The current County Board has proposed deleting roughly two dozen words and adding half a dozen or so to Chapter 2 Article III of the County Code.
Where does county government come from?
Counties originated in France, and I’ll end the history lesson there. Counties are a form of local government in Illinois and are part of the Illinois Constitution.
Now you can see, county government is separated into two parts, the County Board, and the County Officers. What does our state Constitution describe first? My point is, the County Board has priority over County Officers in our state Constitution.
Who are the County Officers?
As you can see from the graphic above, there are two classes of county officers. The first group are the officers that counties have to fill- Sheriff, County Clerk, and Treasurer.
It is important to note, even though the Chief Executive is listed first, it is not an office that counties are required to have. This is because a county can only have a Chief Executive officer if it is an executive form of government. A county can only adopt an executive form of government by referendum. Adopting an executive form of government also triggers home rule. (Source)
Below Chief Executive are the other county offices that may be filled. Winnebago County has chosen to eliminate the office of Recorder by referendum.
Winnebago County is obviously not an executive form of government where the Chief Executive has authority over the other county officers like a city mayor would. Winnebago County is a Township county government, and that means something very different.
What is the County Board’s Job?
A Township county government has two jobs, legislative and administrative. These types of counties all have County Board Chairmen. They can choose to have the Board Chairman elected by the county at large by referendum. Why would they do that? A full time Chairman would certainly help the County Board fulfill its day to day Administrative duties, relegating the Board to more of an administrative review board.
Most importantly, it offers many of the benefits of a Chief Executive without triggering home rule. Hopefully, I have cleared up any questions about Winnebago County Government. Thank you for reading. I’m John Guevara, and this is what I know.
